Of all of the upcoming television series out there, there’s one that we might be most excited for and that’s Dungeon Crawler Carl. Based on Matt Dinniman’s wildly popular best-selling LitRPG series, from the moment it was announced that Peacock would be bringing the story of Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s prize show cat Princess Donut as they try to survive the literal end of the world in a sadistic intergalactic reality-tv game show, fans have been eagerly awaiting every detail. Unfortunately, excitement doesn’t necessarily make time move faster and the series is still a good bit away from hitting the small screen — filming is expected to begin in 2027 but a release date hasn’t yet been given.
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However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t great sci-fi series to watch while we wait. While nothing is exactly like Dungeon Crawler Carl, there are several hilarious and satirical sci-fi series that you can watch while you wait for Carl and Donut’s adventure to begin. These four in particular are excellent choices in part because they’re unique in their own ways, giving you plenty of variety while you wait.
4) Avenue 5
Set 40 years in the future, Avenue 5 was a two-season HBO series that debuted in 2020. The series followed a luxury interplanetary cruise ship — the titular Avenue 5 — that gets knocked slightly off course after a gravity malfunction. What should have been an 8-week cruise is suddenly now a 3-year adventure and the crew along with the ship’s billionaire owner are forced to deal with panicked passengers, chaos, and life or death stakes.
The show is hilarious but also very much a biting satire. We learn pretty quickly that not everyone is who they appear to be — namely the ship’s captain — and as things go off the rails for the ship, back on Earth the plight of the passengers gets turned into entertainment under the guise of raising money for a rescue. Like Dungeon Crawler Carl, the decisions the characters make all have real consequences and real stakes — and there’s even an AI in Avenue 5 as well.
3) Future Man
If you’re looking for a story of an unlikely person being thrust into an impossible situation with massive stakes, then Future Man should be the show you watch while you wait for Dungeon Crawler Carl. The series stars Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson as Josh Futturman, an underachieving janitor whose life pretty much revolves around the video game Biotic Wars. The game is considered to be unbeatable, but Josh eventually does so and that’s when things get weird: the game’s main characters, Tiger and Wolf, appear in the real world to recruit Josh for a real-life Biotic Wars.
Time travel shenanigans ensue as Josh and the duo try to change the future. The show is completely bonkers and seems insane, but that is also what makes it a great show for Dungeon Crawler Carl fans. Like Dungeon Crawler Carl uses the framework of TTRPG (specifically Dungeons and Dragons) to tell it’s story of survival, Future Man uses video games. It’s also just really entertaining and well worth watching all three seasons.
2) Better Off Ted
One of the more interesting elements of Dungeon Crawler Carl are the corporations — specifically the Syndicate, a collective of corporations generally behind the Dungeon Crawler World game show. If you’re looking for a show with a similar soulless corporation, then you want to check out Better Off Ted. The series follows Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington), the head of research and development at the evil Veridian Dynamics. And when we say evil, we mean evil. Veridian experiments on its employees and is ruthless in its pursuit of its goals — and may even have meddled in politics as well.
What makes Better Off Ted work so well, however, is that most characters in the series know full well what Veridian is up to which means they are actively trying to work the system to prevent bad things from happening — it’s not unlike Carl and Donut learning the mechanics of the dungeon and using them to their favor. Better Off Ted was cancelled after just two seasons, but it’s a fun little gem of a show that more people need to watch.
1) The Orville
We can’t get through this list without suggesting The Orville for one big reason: Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions is behind the upcoming Dungeon Crawler Carl series and The Orville is created by (and stars) MacFarlane. On the surface, the two series couldn’t be more different. The Orville is much more a parody adjacent homage of Star Trek as it follows the crew of the starship USS Orville on various adventures. However, the series also sees the characters dealing with actual high-stakes sci-fi situations and much more “human” moments — interpersonal conflict, workplace arguments, simple mistakes with huge consequences.
The Orville is both funny and serious with a good dose of heartfelt. Tonally, that makes it a perfect match for fans looking for something to get them to Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s also just a very well-done sci-fi series in general so if you haven’t checked this one out, you absolutely should. There are currently 3 seasons available. A fourth is in the works, but it’s unclear when that will actually come to fruition.
What will you be watching while we wait for Dungeon Crawler Carl? Help us out by sharing your suggestions in the comments.
